Braves Briefing: It was a huge day for Atlanta pitching

Thursday was a cool day for an Atlanta Braves pitching staff that has had its ups and downs this season.

First off, was AJ Smith-Shawver getting his first career win at 20 years old. The youngster is just two years removed from high school and has already secured his first MLB win thanks to an 8-3 decision against the Colorado Rockies.

Smith-Shawver is the youngest Atlanta pitcher to earn a win since Steve Avery did it on Aug. 24, 1990.

Michael Tonkin got his first career save after 157 career appearances. Atlanta used almost all of their relief pitchers in the doubleheader on Wednesday and needed to rely on Tonkin to finish the game. He did exactly what was needed, going three and a third innings to close that one out.

NL East Standings

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	43-26	-	Hosts Colorado
Miami	38-31	5.0	@ Washington
Philadelphia	35-34	8.0	@ Oakland
NYM	32-36	10.5	Hosts STL
Washington	27-40	15.0	Hosts Miami

We wrote it

Braves Today's Sam Peebles put together a deep dive into how Eddie Rosario's season could improve. It's a pretty solid report.

Eddie Rosario was a postseason hero in 2021 for the Atlanta Braves. However, since that point his has fallen off pretty hard.
A large chunk of last season can essentially be written off due to him having eye issues that eventually led to him need a procedure done.
That being said, he is healed this season and he is producing behind the plate at a below average rate. If you look at his adjusted OPS (OPS+), he has an 87 which is approximately 13.0 percent below league average.

Check out the full thing here.

What's next for the Atlanta Braves

Game two of the series is set for Friday night in Truist Park, with a 7:20 PM ET first pitch. LHP Jared Shuster goes for Atlanta, while Colorado is sending RHP Dinelson Lamet to the mound. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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